Automatically threading device



Nov. 28, 1961 G. D. M GILL ETAL AUTOMATICALLY THREADING DEVICE Filed March 7, 1961 Isa.

INV EN TORS GEORGE D. MCGILL 8 WILLIAM B KARST ATTORNEY United States Patent U1 3,010,487 AUTOMATICALLY THREADING DEVICE George D. McGill and William B. Karst, Greenville, S.C.,

assignors, by mesne assignments, to West Point Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Georgia Filed Mar. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 93,925 7 Claims. (Cl. 139-223) This invention relates to loom shuttles of the type which thread automatically and especially to an improved shuttle eye which avoids unthreading and yarn breakage due to looping.

This invention is an improvement upon the device disclosed in the application of Robert F. Parks, Automatically Threading Shuttle, Serial No. 59,589, filed September 30, 1960. One of the important objects of the Parks invention is to provide a shuttle eye of the automatically threading type which, upon the occurrence of a tie or a throw throng will not become entirely unthreaded and which will rethread properly. The Parks device has been effective in shedding loops of all types in which the yarn is thrown over the shuttle eye and has avoided unthreading resulting from throw throughs and ti% so as to be commercially successful. A substantially horizontal horn of decreasing cross-section toward its tip was provided by Parks for avoiding unthreading of the eye and for the shedding of loops. However, under some conditions, unthreading does occur because the yarn moves into alignment with the yarn channel and comes out from under the horn. Yarn has become broken as a result of looping inside the yarn channel where the loops twist and fall on the tip of the horn. The present invention is addressed to the problem of avoiding looping and unthreading and enhancing the ability of the eye to shed loops when they occur inside the shuttle eye, thus improving the operation of the Parks automatically threading device.

An important object of the invention, therefore, is to prevent yarn from passing beneath the horn of a shuttle eye after once becoming threaded, thus avoiding unthreading.

Another important object of the invention is to protect the free end or tip of the horn so as to avoid the receiving thereon of a loop of yarn resulting from a throw through of twisted yarn within the thread channel.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatically threading device capable of shedding throw through loops which pass over the device and prevent the tying of loops which occur within the device and yet avoid unthreading from the front and from the side.

Another object of the invention is to provide a horn structure having a sharply decreasing cross-section toward its tip so as to enhance its capabilities with respect to shedding loops and at the same time prevent unthreading.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a structure which protects the tip of an inwardly projecting horn avoiding the reception of loops thereon while'pen mitting the passage of yarn around the horn.

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features thereof.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by refernce to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, wherein an example of the inventionisqshown and wherein:

3,010,487 Patented Nov. 28, 1961 ice FIGURE 1 is a plan view illustrating an automatically threading device constructed in accordance with the present invention,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation illustrating the automatically threading device shown in FIGURE 1, with parts broken away,

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation further illustrating the automatically threading device,

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the device, and

FIGURE 5 is a rear elevation of the device.

An automatically threading device which includes a block and a longitudinal thread pasage is illustrated in the drawing. -A bill having an inwardly projecting tip carries a downwardly projecting portion or abutment A which has a vertical side wall remote from the thread passage. A first horn or pointed element B extends downwardly forwardly of, and in substantial alignment with the delivery or front side of the block and is carried by the abutment A. An inwardly and rearwardly extending substantially horizontal second horn C is carried by the first horn B. The. pointed element B, which is in substantial alignment with the vertical surface of the downward projection A, maintains the yarn on the delivery side of the shuttle eye during weaving and prevents the yarn from coming out from under the horn C after once becoming threaded and becoming thus unthreaded. A shield or bafiie D extends over the horn C so as to prevent throw through loops, occurring with the yarn within the thread guide, from catching on the horn and becoming broken. It should be noted that a throw through loop which passes over the shuttle eye slides off the thorns B and C because of their diminishing cross-section. A twisted loop L within the eye, of the type which occurs most frequently in high twist yarn, is prevented from falling upon the horn C by the shield D. In the event of a tie, the eye will rethread by the yarn passing downwardly of the vertical side wall of the abutment A and over the front downardly and rearwardly curving wall and over the first horn B formed thereby. The yarn falls ed the second horn C by passing over the lateral extension of the front wall which curves upwardly and inwardly. The yarn also passes around a rear substantially vertical surface, which converges with the side, front and lateral surfaces, and over the'inner surface which extends downwardly from the bill and which then curves lat erally and rearwardly to form the substantially horizontal horn C. It is important to note that the yarn normally threads by passing downwardly of the inner surface, over the horn C and then around the projection B into the delivery eye. Sufficient space must be left between the tip of the horn C and the shield D to permit threading and to permit to a tie to be shed from the horn C.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, a shuttle 10 is illustrated having a central cavity 11 for containing a filling supply 12. A cavity 13 for accommodating an automatically threading device in the form of a shuttle eye is provided adjacent one end of the shuttle 10. The cavity 13 accommodates the block along the longitudinal axis of the shuttle 10 andan extension 13a serves as a yarn guide during threading. A forward extension 131) permits the yarn to pass around the forward portion of the eye during threading. A transverse bolt r14 passes through a transverse bore 15 in the shuttle body and through a transverse bore 16 within the block 17 for confining the block within the cavity 13.

A longitudinal thread passage or channel 18 is formed within the shuttle block between a substantially vertical Wall 19 and the scroll 20. A tapered opening 18a to accommodate the ballooning of the yarn forms the opening of the thread passage or yarn channel 18, and during weaving the yarn is confined within the yarn tunnel 18 under the scroll 20. During weaving the yarn passes over the pin 21 and thence into the lateral delivery passage 22 and into a delivery eye (broken away in FIG- URE 2). During threading the yarn passes over the bill 23 and the scroll 20, passes down under the tip 23a of the bill 23 and over the horn C and into the lateral yarn passage or extension 22.

A downwardly extending vertical abutment A is integral with the bill 23 and has a vertical side wall 24 in substantial alignment with the front or shed wall of the block 17. The downward projection A also has a front wall 25 which curves downwardly and rearwardly from the bill. A lateral extension 26 of the front wall extends from a the lower portion of the side wall 24 and curves upwardly and inwardly. A rear substantially vertical surface 27 extends upwardly and inwardly converging with said side,

front and lateral surfaces 24, 25 and 26, respectively, to form a first horn B. By referring especially to FIGURE 3, it will be noted that the first horn positions the yarn within the lateral extension 22 well away from the longitudinal channel 18 during weaving.

An inner surface 28 extends downwardly and is substantially vertical and is joined to a substantially horizontal portion 29. The horizontal portion 29, together with the rear vertical surface 27 and the upwardly and inwardly curving surface 26 form a substantially horizontal second horn C which defines a substantially horizontal thread trap 30. Yarn within the extension 22 and wrapped around both horns B and C is presented with a diminishing cross-section-at all times approaching the free ends thereof. The surface 26 facilitates the shedding of loops from the horn C yet the substantially horizontal surface 29 prevents unthreading from the side.

The shield D includes a forward projection 31 of the side wall 19. The shield D has a downwardly and preferably slightly inwardly inclined surface 32 which prevents throw through loops of the twisted type which occur with the yarn in the tunnel 18 resulting from twist in the yarn (illustrated at L in FIGURE 1) from passing over the tip or free end of the horn C. It will be noted by reference to FIGURE 3 that the tip of the horn C extends under the shield D in a longitudinal plane and, by reference to FIGURE 4, it will be noted that the horn C is spaced below the lower surface of the projection 31 so as to permit the passage of yarn over the tip of the horn C. V

While'a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is: V

1. In a shuttle eye having a block, a longitudinal thread passage and a, bill extending forwardly of the yarn channel, the improvement including, a horn carried by the bill intermediate the forward end of the bill and the forward end of the longitudinal thread passage projecting below the thread passage and inwardly of the bill, and a shield positioned closely adjacent the free'endof the horn in the path of throw through loops deflecting same from the free end of the horn.

2. In a shuttle eye having a block, a longitudinal thread passage and a bill extending forwardly of the yarn channel, the improvement including, a horn "carried by the bill intermediate the forward end of the bill and the for- Ward end of the longitudinal thread passage projecting horizontally below the thread passage and inwardly of the bill, and a shield positioned closely adjacent the free end of the horn in the path of throw through loops deflecting same from the free end of the horn.

3. A shuttle eye having a block and a longitudinal thread passage including, a bill, a downwardly projecting portion carried by the bill, said downwardly projecting portion having a substantially vertical side wall remote from the thread passage, a front wall curving downwardly and rearwardly from the bill, a lateral surface extending from the lower portion of said vertical surface curving upwardly and inwardly, a rear surface extending upwardly and inwardly converging with said side, front and lateral surfaces forming a first downwardly projecting horn, an inner surface extending downwardly then curving laterally converging with said rear and lateral surfaces forming a second born.

4. A shuttle eye having a block and a longitudinal thread passage including, a bill, a downwardly projecting portion carried by the bill, said downwardly projecting portion having a substantially vertical side wall remote from the thread passage, 9. front wall curving downwardly and rearwardly from the bill, a lateral surface extending from the lower portion of said vertical surface curving upwardly and inwardly, a rear surface extending upwardly and inwardly converging with said side, front and lateral surfaces forming a first downwardly projecting horn, and an inner surface extending downwardly then curving laterally converging with' said rear and lateral surfaces forming a second horn extending across the thread passage, and a baffle positioned closely adjacent the free end of the horn in the path of throw through loops deflecting same from the free end of the horn.

5. In a shuttle eye having a block, a bill carried by the block and a longitudinal thread passage spaced from the front surface of the block, the improvement including, a downwardly projecting portion carried by the bill, said downwardly projecting portion having a substantially vertical side wall remote from the thread passage, a front wall curving downwardly and rearwardly from the bill, a lateral surface extending from the lower portion of said vertical surface curving upwardly and inwardly, a rear surface extending upwardly and inwardly converging with said side, front and lateral surfaces forming a first downwardly projecting horn, and an inner surface extending downwardly then curving laterally substantially horizontally converging with said rear and lateral surfaces forming a second substantially horizontal horn.

6. In a shuttle eye having a block, a bill carried by the block and a longitudinal thread passage spaced from the front surface of the block, the improvement including, a downwardly projecting portion carried by the bill, said downwardly projecting portion having a substantially vertical side wall remote from the thread passage'in substantial alignment with the front surface of the block, a frontwall curving downwardly and rearwardly from the ball, a lateral surface extending from the lower portion of said vertical surface curving upwardly and inwardly,

a rear surface extending upwardly and inwardly converging with said side, front and lateral surfaces forming a first downwardly projecting horn, an inner surface extending downwardly then curving laterally substantially horizontally converging with said rear and lateral surfaces forming a second substantially horizontal horn, and a shield positioned closely adjacent the free end of the horn in the path of throw through loops deflecting same from the free end of the horn.

7. In a shuttle eye having a block, a bill carried by the block adjacent the front surface of the'block, a wall adjacent the back surface of the block and a longitudinal thread passage between the bill and the wall, the improvement including, a downwardly projecting portion carried by the bill, said downwardly projecting portion having a substantially vertical side wall remote from the thread passage in substantial alignment with the front surface of the block, a front wall curving downwardly and rearwardly from the 'bill, a lateral surface extending from the lower portion of said vertical surface curving upwardly and inwardly, a rear surface extending upwardly and inwardly converging with said side, front and lateral surfaces forming a first downwardly projecting horn, an extension of said vertical wall projecting forwardly, and an inner surface extending downwardly then curving laterally substantially horizontally converging with said rear and lateral surfaces forming a second substantially References'Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Villani June 13, 1944 Wood Aug. 19, 1952 

